Molly, an African spurred tortoise, was discovered meandering slowly along the periphery of a vast wetland in the Canadian prairie at Oak Hammock Marsh in Manitoba’s Interlake. This unusual sighting left Gillian Malchuk, a nature interpreter at Oak Hammock, and her colleagues puzzled as to how a tortoise not native to the area ended up there. The 36-kilogram tortoise was rescued by the staff after receiving reports from the public about unusual tortoise sightings, initially dismissed as common snapping turtles.
The breakthrough came when a sighting was logged on the iNaturalist app, prompting Malchuk and her team to embark on a tortoise search. Their search was brief as they were expecting a smaller creature, but to their surprise, they found Molly, the massive tortoise, in the marsh’s parking lot. The staff at Oak Hammock Marsh took care of Molly, feeding her cucumbers and flower petals, giving her guided tours, and providing her with care until her owners were located through a missing tortoise post on social media.
Molly’s family was finally reunited with her on July 22, with her “mother” expressing joy at seeing her beloved pet again. It was revealed that Molly had been with the family for 15 years since she was a baby and had managed to escape through a gap in the backyard fence during renovations. Despite being familiar with tortoises’ escape tendencies, Malchuk was surprised at how Molly traveled 20 kilometers to the marsh, with theories ranging from a well-meaning Samaritan relocating her to the tortoise venturing there on her own. The mystery of Molly’s journey to the marsh remains unanswered.